Englewood police investigate two robberies by men on bicycles

ENGLEWOOD — City police are investigating two crimes in two days that they believe may have been committed by the same group of people: a gunpoint robbery on Humphrey Street and a chain snatching at knifepoint on Armory Street. In both cases, the robber rode a bicycle.

The victims in gunpoint robbery, a 46-year-old man and a 27-year-old woman, were parked on Humphrey after 11 p.m. Monday when a man approached on a bike, showed them a gun and demanded their money and cell phones. The female passenger handed over $6 in cash, Englewood police Chief Lawrence Suffern said.

A male accomplice approached the car on foot and appeared to be a lookout, Suffern said.

The man with the gun threatened the driver, who had been trying to drive away, and said he’d hurt him, Suffern said. The two robbers fled through adjoining backyards. No one was injured.

The men are in their early 20s, with skinny builds between 6-foot, one-inch and 6-foot, three-inch, police said. The accomplice was wearing blue jeans and a red hooded zip-up sweatshirt or jacket.

In the other incident, a man on a bicycle threatened a 34-year-old city man with a switchblade and snatched a silver chain with a medallion from his neck Sunday night on Armory Street, authorities said.

The victim had ridden his bicycle from work and was returning home at about 10 p.m. when another man on a bicycle, wearing a dark T-shirt pulled over his head, came from his backyard and shoved him off his bike, Suffern said. The robber threatened him with the knife and stole the chain and medallion, the chief said. The victim wasn’t hurt.

Police believe that two other men on bicycles nearby were involved in the crime. All three fled after robbery.

Anyone with information on either incident is asked to call the Englewood police’s detective bureau at 201-568-4875.